Syria is now the world’s most dangerous country for journalists. According to a Reporters Without Borders tally, more than 110 news providers (including 25 professional journalists) have been killed in connection with their work since March 2011 and more than 60 are currently detained.

Journalists are not terrorists – this is the powerful message the European Federation of Journalists is sending to the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Stand Up for Journalism Day following the life sentences given to six Turkish journalists on November 4.

“Egypt’s Jon Stewart” is being prosecuted for poking fun at leaked comments by the Defence Minister, General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, suggesting that the General would “find partners in the local media willing to collaborate to polish the image of the military.”

Anabel Hernandez has been described as one of the most courageous journalists in Mexico. Her book Narcoland links top Mexican government officials to the world’s most powerful drug cartels. In 2012, she received the Golden Pen of Freedom award from the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers.

More than 600 journalists, media workers and social media producers have been killed in the last ten years. To put an end to violence against journalists, the United Nations has developed the UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity.

A new report — “The Long Shadow of Chinese Censorship: How Chinese Media Restrictions Affect News Outlets around the World” — finds that Chinese officials have directly impeded independent reporting by media based abroad.

“The arrest of [Ali] Anouzla is the latest chapter in a series of harassment cases against uncompromising journalists. Such instances reinforce the impression that media freedom is under attack in the country.” – Hassan Masiky, former advisor to Amnesty International USA.

A collection of photojournalism depicting the everyday lives of Belarusians has led the Belarus Government to withdraw the publishing license of the largest non-state publishing house, Łohvinaŭ. The International Publishers Association is calling on Belarus to revoke the decision and protect the freedom to publish.

The week’s top news on freedom of expression, journalists in danger, artists in exile, and banned literature. Featured this week: freedom of religion in North Korea, how internet actually works in China, German-Bulgarian writer and NSA critic Ilija Trojanov denied entry into US.

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About Sampsonia Way

Sampsonia Way is an online magazine sponsored by City of Asylum/Pittsburgh that seeks to protect and advocate for writers who may be endangered, to educate the public about threats to writers and literary expression, and to create a community in which endangered writers thrive and literary culture is a valued part of life.